Chabert pursues public-private partnership

Tuesday

Dec 4, 2012 at 8:40 PM

Employees of Houma's Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center were told in a meeting Monday that the charity hospital is in talks to partner with private hospitals to continue operating in the face of ongoing budget cuts.

Nikki BuskeyStaff Writer

Employees of Chabert Medical Center were told Monday that the state charity hospital is in talks to partner with private hospitals to continue operating in the face of ongoing budget cuts.Chabert CEO Rhonda Green said there are ongoing discussions with "more than one entity" at the state level.The partnership would be part of a long-term plan to sustain operations amid state and Medicaid budget cuts that have triggered expected layoffs and elimination of services.Green said the meeting was held Monday to inform employees that "we were in talks about a public-private partnership, as are other state hospitals. There were many speculative questions from employees, as expected."But, she added, a firm deal with a private hospital hasn't been reached."The truth is nothing has been decided as of yet," Green said.After federal Medicaid cuts, the Jindal administration and officials with the LSU hospital system ordered cuts totaling about $152 million among the seven state charity hospitals.Chabert's share is $14.3 million, which officials said would result in 245 layoffs, about a quarter of its staff, and decimate services to the hospital's mostly poor or uninsured patients. The cuts had been scheduled to take effect Jan. 21.But the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper reported today that Frank Opelka, LSU system executive vice president, has put the layoffs at Chabert and most other hospitals on hold while discussions continue with private companies that may take over some or all of their operations.And local officials have said they, too, are in discussions aimed at finding a solution that might avert layoffs and keep all or parts of Chabert's services up and running.Rumors have abounded about who may step up to help run Chabert Medical Center.A local lawmaker said a deal to partner with Chabert may be in the works between Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma and Ochsner Health System. For years, Ochsner has had a partnership to run St. Anne General, a public hospital in Raceland.State Rep. Gordon Dove, R-Houma, said as is in the case with all business deals, the hospitals are doing their "due diligence" to investigate the financial aspects of a deal. The goal of any partnership would be for the hospital to retain its state-funded charity mission of helping low-income and uninsured residents obtain necessary and affordable medical care.Dove said he spoke with Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein about the deal Wednesday morning and the administration official expressed confidence in a possible partnership.Ochsner officials said there was no information on a possible partnership between Chabert and the private hospital system as of Tuesday. Ochsner has already agreed to work with Chabert to maintain its graduate medical program, in which the private firm sends residents to the Houma hospital for training as doctors.Phyllis Peoples, President and CEO of Terrebonne General Medical Center, said the hospital has always stepped up to care for the community admit state and federal health care budget cuts."As the state has enacted drastic cuts to the charity healthcare system, TGMC has looked for ways to assist," Peoples said. "Many stakeholders are involved in finding a solution that would provide the necessary resources for Chabert Medical Center to continue providing medical care and currently models for that outcome are in the process of being evaluated."Peoples added the success of these solutions is dependent on "what would be operationally feasible and financially viable for all stakeholders, with the goal of caring for our community being our number one priority."State Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, said he could not comment on the details of any partnership but said a deal would likely come before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.Lawmakers and charity hospital officials must create a firm long-term plan to prepare for another possible round of cuts in July after the legislative session. They also must make sure that whatever partnership they build is prepared to withstand challenges coming from the possible implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act.In the meantime, parish governments have stepped up to help stave off major cuts at Chabert until a long-term partner can be found.On Monday, The Terrebonne Parish Council approved a $2 million transfer to the hospital. Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph is supporting a $1 million contribution that will go before the Lafourche Parish Council Dec. 11.The $3 million from the parish governments would render up to triple that amount for Chabert because of federal Medicare matching rates.In addition to the parish money, the hospital plans to save about $4 million by being more efficient.The one-time emergency dollars aim to prevent layoffs, bed closures, clinic shutdowns and loss of accreditation for the graduate medical program, which handles the load of 75 percent of the patient care in the hospital.

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.

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